9th Grade - Students worked almost exclusively on being able to do a proper works cited page for their Greek Gods Project. We spent the majority of the class with Lori in the library going through the process step-by-step.
The main reason I feel this has been worth focusing on is because we are aiming at college prep skills, and the ability to correctly cite sources is very common in any college. Many of the students are used to using a program called Noodletools, which organizes citations for the students, but oftenntimes the students have not been entering the correct information, and even using this program, they are not citing properly.
The goal for today was to complete the works cited page in class; as long as students were not RUSHING, they were able to do it correctly (a big hint for those that were rushing . . .). With the works cited for this project, it is either 100% perfect or 0% - no errors allowed.
10th Grade - Sophomores had a variety of material that was covered today. First, we finished the trial scene from the TKAM script, and discussed one speech in that scene in particular. There is a part where Atticus, the main character, discusses that people are willing to convict an innocent man because of an "unspoken social code" regarding race in the 1930s. I asked students to think about what other social codes exist in contemporary society, and why.
I returned the student journal entries from last week - the main criticism with the writing level was simply that most students only wrote on a surface level. As I read through entries, each one had several points that could easily have been followed through in greater depth, and this is the primary fix for the next round of entries. I am also requiring the next several entries to be done in class, and must be shown to me before students leave for the day.
Students also had three new vocab words - infalliable, tact, and pejorative.
Homework - Read CH 22-23.
Monday, February 28, 2011
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Feb. 25th Daily Plan
9th Grade - Students started by sharing the tragic scenarios they had written with the class, and then students voted on which scenario best fit the criteria of a tragedy.
Today, the goal of class was to start reading Antigone. Since this is the third part of a trilogy, part of class was dedicated to going over the plotlines of Oedipus Rex and Oedipus at Colonus, along with a visual family tree to get a better understanding of how these characters are connected.
As a class, we read through the prologue and the opening of Scene 1, and will continue on monday.
10th Grade - First, sophomores took a vocabulary test over the commonly misused words that were studied this past week. We also had the last few student presentations, with most periods ending on The Scottsboro Trial, since the trial scene in TKAM is heavily based on this
Students read through the script of the TKAM film to finish this section of the novel as a play, and we read through the majority of the scene. Students who missed class need to read Chapter 17-21 to catch up.
Today, the goal of class was to start reading Antigone. Since this is the third part of a trilogy, part of class was dedicated to going over the plotlines of Oedipus Rex and Oedipus at Colonus, along with a visual family tree to get a better understanding of how these characters are connected.
As a class, we read through the prologue and the opening of Scene 1, and will continue on monday.
10th Grade - First, sophomores took a vocabulary test over the commonly misused words that were studied this past week. We also had the last few student presentations, with most periods ending on The Scottsboro Trial, since the trial scene in TKAM is heavily based on this
Students read through the script of the TKAM film to finish this section of the novel as a play, and we read through the majority of the scene. Students who missed class need to read Chapter 17-21 to catch up.
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Feb. 24th Daily Plan
9th Grade - Today we introduced the concept of the tragic hero, and the class took notes on an overview of Greek Theatre and the history of the genre of tragedy.
We discussed the role of theatre in ancient Greece, and how important Dionysus was as a god for the theatre. Plays were written as part of popular competition, and the format that traditional tragedies follow stems from the plays that were successful.
Generally, we looked at three main components of any tragedy -
1) The play evokes feelings of fear and pity.
2) The tragic hero is generally good, and therefore relatable.
3) The tragic hero must perform an action that causes their own downfall.
We also had four vocabulary words surrounding Greek tragedy -
Hamartia - The Tragic Error - the mistake that brings down the hero. Often mistaken as a "fatal flaw" in their personality, but this can really just be a mistake they make.
Hubris - violent transgression - usually mistaken for "too much pride," this really means the Hero has done something that goes against the gods/order of nature.
Nemesis - retribution from the cosmos (the revenge of the gods/nature)-
Peripateia - plot reversal. The moment when the hero realizes that things are falling apart, understanding of his or her own hubris.
Student spend the second half of class working in pairs to create a short tragic story. We will present these at the beginning of class tomorrow.
10th Grade - First, students were reminded that the Reader Response Journals are a significant portion of their grade at this point, and if they are not turned in by the end of the week, it can adversely affect their grade in class by a 8-9%.
Sophomores looked at some background information about the criminal justice system, as well as statistics about prison incarceration rates, wrongful imprisonment, and witness reliability. This is because the next section of TKAM takes place in a courtroom, and much of this information is useful to know as we watch the plot unfold.
Students had a brief review period for the vocab words (commonly misued words), and then had the option to either
a) read CH 16 as a class
b) read CH 16 silently by themselves
c) if they have already read CH 16, work on the next set of journal entries.
Homework - CH 16 if not complete.
We discussed the role of theatre in ancient Greece, and how important Dionysus was as a god for the theatre. Plays were written as part of popular competition, and the format that traditional tragedies follow stems from the plays that were successful.
Generally, we looked at three main components of any tragedy -
1) The play evokes feelings of fear and pity.
2) The tragic hero is generally good, and therefore relatable.
3) The tragic hero must perform an action that causes their own downfall.
We also had four vocabulary words surrounding Greek tragedy -
Hamartia - The Tragic Error - the mistake that brings down the hero. Often mistaken as a "fatal flaw" in their personality, but this can really just be a mistake they make.
Hubris - violent transgression - usually mistaken for "too much pride," this really means the Hero has done something that goes against the gods/order of nature.
Nemesis - retribution from the cosmos (the revenge of the gods/nature)-
Peripateia - plot reversal. The moment when the hero realizes that things are falling apart, understanding of his or her own hubris.
Student spend the second half of class working in pairs to create a short tragic story. We will present these at the beginning of class tomorrow.
10th Grade - First, students were reminded that the Reader Response Journals are a significant portion of their grade at this point, and if they are not turned in by the end of the week, it can adversely affect their grade in class by a 8-9%.
Sophomores looked at some background information about the criminal justice system, as well as statistics about prison incarceration rates, wrongful imprisonment, and witness reliability. This is because the next section of TKAM takes place in a courtroom, and much of this information is useful to know as we watch the plot unfold.
Students had a brief review period for the vocab words (commonly misued words), and then had the option to either
a) read CH 16 as a class
b) read CH 16 silently by themselves
c) if they have already read CH 16, work on the next set of journal entries.
Homework - CH 16 if not complete.
Feb 23rd Daily Plan
9th Grade - We finished up working with the idea of the Hero archetype, by developing very specific criteria for what makes someone a hero. Students completed a worksheet with 10 different scenarios, in which they had to rank them in order from "most heroic" to "least heroic." After ranking these, we discussed as a class why certain scenarios would be considered more heroic than others.
General criteria the class agreed upon - to make an act heroic, there must be an element of risk/danger, the hero should NOT be obligated to enter the dangerous situation, and the goal should be to help someone/save a life.
Students also completed a journal entry composed of three parts - 1) why they made their choices for "most" and "least" on the worksheet, 2) Someone they personally consider a hero, and 3) if their personal hero matches the criteria they cose.
10th Grade - We added in the last set of vocabulary words for the quiz tomorrow - affect and effect, accept and except.
Students also were asked to turn in their first five Reader Response Journal Entries, which are a significant portion of the TKAM unit. We had another couple of student presentations, and then worked on an in-class project called a body biography.
For the body biographies, students chose a character from TKAM and sketched them out as a blank body - inside the body various facts and inferences about that character's personality and history were written to give a more complete idea of that character.
General criteria the class agreed upon - to make an act heroic, there must be an element of risk/danger, the hero should NOT be obligated to enter the dangerous situation, and the goal should be to help someone/save a life.
Students also completed a journal entry composed of three parts - 1) why they made their choices for "most" and "least" on the worksheet, 2) Someone they personally consider a hero, and 3) if their personal hero matches the criteria they cose.
10th Grade - We added in the last set of vocabulary words for the quiz tomorrow - affect and effect, accept and except.
Students also were asked to turn in their first five Reader Response Journal Entries, which are a significant portion of the TKAM unit. We had another couple of student presentations, and then worked on an in-class project called a body biography.
For the body biographies, students chose a character from TKAM and sketched them out as a blank body - inside the body various facts and inferences about that character's personality and history were written to give a more complete idea of that character.
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Feb. 18th Daily Plan
Apologies for not getting this up sooner!
9th Grade - We spent this class period finishing watching "The Lion King" as a case study for the achetypical Hero Quest. Looking at the outline of the various steps involved in the Hero Quest, this story clearly exemplifies 14/15 steps that Joseph Campbell describes. Students completed the worksheet that we started yesterday and turned these in for credit. This week (2/23-2/25) we will be using these archetypes and applying these theories into classical Greek tragedy by reading Antigone.
10th Grade - Sophomores had an opportunity to recover some credit if they did not perform to standard on the exam over Part 1 of TKAM. We watched two short videos in class; one discussing a town in Mississippi that had its first integrated prom in 2008, and another looking at some of the major achievements of the African-American population in the early 20th century (since much of what we have discussed regarding TKAM victimizes the African-American population of the U.S., I believe it is a good idea to show students some of the more positive changes that were occuring between Reconstruction and the Civil Rights Movement).
Extra Credit Opportunities for 10th Grade -
1) Take Notes and write a reflection on the videos watched (in-class)
2) Write an additional journal entry over Part 1 of the book (so turning in six entries on 2/23 instead of 5).
These are both one-off options; they are completed and turned in when requested and cannot be given at a later time.
HOMEWORK - Read through CH 14; 5 journal entries due Wednesday, 2/23.
9th Grade - We spent this class period finishing watching "The Lion King" as a case study for the achetypical Hero Quest. Looking at the outline of the various steps involved in the Hero Quest, this story clearly exemplifies 14/15 steps that Joseph Campbell describes. Students completed the worksheet that we started yesterday and turned these in for credit. This week (2/23-2/25) we will be using these archetypes and applying these theories into classical Greek tragedy by reading Antigone.
10th Grade - Sophomores had an opportunity to recover some credit if they did not perform to standard on the exam over Part 1 of TKAM. We watched two short videos in class; one discussing a town in Mississippi that had its first integrated prom in 2008, and another looking at some of the major achievements of the African-American population in the early 20th century (since much of what we have discussed regarding TKAM victimizes the African-American population of the U.S., I believe it is a good idea to show students some of the more positive changes that were occuring between Reconstruction and the Civil Rights Movement).
Extra Credit Opportunities for 10th Grade -
1) Take Notes and write a reflection on the videos watched (in-class)
2) Write an additional journal entry over Part 1 of the book (so turning in six entries on 2/23 instead of 5).
These are both one-off options; they are completed and turned in when requested and cannot be given at a later time.
HOMEWORK - Read through CH 14; 5 journal entries due Wednesday, 2/23.
Friday, February 18, 2011
Feb. 17th Daily Plan
9th Grade - Students started attachiing the Hero-Quest Archetype information into an actual model - we are watching Disney's "The Lion King" as a demonstration of how this archetype works. Students were given a worksheet with the 15 steps of the Hero Quest, and also have their notes to get more information on what each step specifically entails.
We spent the day watching the film and making connections between the storyline and the traditional Hero Quest. Both freshmen classes have made it through most of Part A - The Departure portion of this model, and should be close to concluding the film today.
Posters turned in Feb. 17th received 90% max credit (with an exception for excused absences during work-days). Posters turned in Feb. 18th receive 80% max credit. Each day late drops another 10%.
10th Grade - We discussed the results of Wednesday's test, which were incredibly varied. On the plus side, many students did exceptionally well, with 10 students finishing with the highest scores they have achieved in my class. Major respect for those that put in the extra time and effort to make sure they did well, because it really paid off.
The biggest concern I had with many student responses was a lack of clarity - an answer that does not provide details from the text does not prove to the reader (the teacher) that you have actually read the book and know what you are discussing. A detailed answer provides this, and it makes it immediately clear how much you know about what you are reading.
We also started a new vocabulary list, focused on commonly misused words, because I have been seeing a pattern in student writing.
First set - there, their, they're.
Finally, we read Chapter 12 in class, as this is a pivotal position in the novel and I wanted to make sure everyone is very clear as to the plotline as we move into part 2.
Homework - Read Ch. 13.
We spent the day watching the film and making connections between the storyline and the traditional Hero Quest. Both freshmen classes have made it through most of Part A - The Departure portion of this model, and should be close to concluding the film today.
Posters turned in Feb. 17th received 90% max credit (with an exception for excused absences during work-days). Posters turned in Feb. 18th receive 80% max credit. Each day late drops another 10%.
10th Grade - We discussed the results of Wednesday's test, which were incredibly varied. On the plus side, many students did exceptionally well, with 10 students finishing with the highest scores they have achieved in my class. Major respect for those that put in the extra time and effort to make sure they did well, because it really paid off.
The biggest concern I had with many student responses was a lack of clarity - an answer that does not provide details from the text does not prove to the reader (the teacher) that you have actually read the book and know what you are discussing. A detailed answer provides this, and it makes it immediately clear how much you know about what you are reading.
We also started a new vocabulary list, focused on commonly misused words, because I have been seeing a pattern in student writing.
First set - there, their, they're.
Finally, we read Chapter 12 in class, as this is a pivotal position in the novel and I wanted to make sure everyone is very clear as to the plotline as we move into part 2.
Homework - Read Ch. 13.
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Feb. 16th Daily Plan
9th Grade - Today our class essentially finished the Greek Gods Poster Project, with the exception of students having everything fully cited. I want to make sure that everyone is learning to cite sources in the correct format, so we have held off on adding citations onto the posters until next week.
What was due in class today was a completed poster (image, two summaries, one analysis). If students already had a properly formatted works cited page, they could also add that on, but it did not count against the students who did not have it.
We are setting up to start reading Antigone next week, which is the central text of the mythology unit. Before reading this, we are also going in greater depth with the Hero-Quest Archetype, and took notes over this in class today.
The outline of the Hero Quest comes from the author Joseph Campbell, who is an authority on mythology. He has created a 15-step template for the archetypical Hero Quest, and we will be watching how this plays out in popular film over the next wto days.
10th Grade - Students took the test over Part One of To Kill a Mockingbird, which covered both the content of the novel, and also had the last weeks vocabulary section added on as well.
Bonus points were awarded to students who had a fully completed study guide turned in when I requested them BEFORE taking the exam; study guides completed/turned in afterwards do not count for a grade (they do not count against students, either).
The class was given the entire period to work on the exam, and could work on Journal Entries, missing assignments, or read when completed.
No homework tonight.
What was due in class today was a completed poster (image, two summaries, one analysis). If students already had a properly formatted works cited page, they could also add that on, but it did not count against the students who did not have it.
We are setting up to start reading Antigone next week, which is the central text of the mythology unit. Before reading this, we are also going in greater depth with the Hero-Quest Archetype, and took notes over this in class today.
The outline of the Hero Quest comes from the author Joseph Campbell, who is an authority on mythology. He has created a 15-step template for the archetypical Hero Quest, and we will be watching how this plays out in popular film over the next wto days.
10th Grade - Students took the test over Part One of To Kill a Mockingbird, which covered both the content of the novel, and also had the last weeks vocabulary section added on as well.
Bonus points were awarded to students who had a fully completed study guide turned in when I requested them BEFORE taking the exam; study guides completed/turned in afterwards do not count for a grade (they do not count against students, either).
The class was given the entire period to work on the exam, and could work on Journal Entries, missing assignments, or read when completed.
No homework tonight.
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